This invention relates generally to apparatus for securing parallel leads of electronic components to a printed circuit board and, in particular, to apparatus for automatically inserting parallel lead electronic components into lead receiving openings in a printed circuit board having improved lead holding and guiding apparatus.
It is known to utilize an electronic component web carrier 3 as shown in FIG. 1 in inserting electronic components in a printed circuit board. More specifically, the electronic component web carrier 3 has a supporting strip 65 on which a multiplicity of electronic components 17 are supported by means of an adhesive tape 66, each of the components having an electronic element 64 such as a capacitor, resistor or the like and parallel leads 53. The electronic components 17 are disposed in parallel relation and at a constant pitch. The supporting strip 65 is provided with openings or perforations 32 for locating and feeding the electronic component web carrier 3.
This electronic component web carrier 3 is typically placed in an automatic inserting machine. The final step of the operation of the automatic inserting machine is accomplished in the inserting assembly of the machine. Thus, each electronic component 17, which has been separated in a manner shown in FIG. 2, is held by a lead holding and guiding assembly. After insertion of the leads 53 into the printed circuit board 19 as shown in FIG. 3, the projecting ends of the leads 53 are cut and bent to fix the electronic component 17 as shown in FIG. 4. A reference numeral 265 denotes a stopper which limits the insertion depth.
In loading a printed circuit board or the like with a multiplicity of electronic components, it is highly desirable to reduce as much as possible the distance between adjacent electronic components, in order to reduce the size of the finished product. In the conventional apparatus, however, the distance between adjacent electronic components, is necessarily large so as to avoid the interference between the lead holding and guiding assembly and adjacent electronic components already inserted during insertion of a new electronic component, and in order to avoid any interference between the lead holding and guiding assembly and the newly inserted electronic components, as well as the electronic components which had been previously inserted during the lifting of the lead holding and guiding assembly subsequent by the insertion of the new electronic component. These constraints arise from the fact that the lead holding and guiding assembly is relatively large and has a large stroke or range of movement, which combine to limit the reduction of size of the product.
In addition, the lead holding and guiding assembly has a complicated construction, the conventional assembly having two pairs of holding members.